Despite Centre’s claims, AP Reorganisation Act promises remain on paper

Over the last nine Union Budgets presented in Parliament during Telangana's existence, none of the promised projects outlined in the Act have seen completion

Hyderabad: Nearly a decade after Telangana has been formed, the promises made to its people under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act remain unfulfilled. The BJP-led union government has turned a blind eye to the plight of Telangana and has repeatedly failed to deliver on crucial commitments.

However, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai on Tuesday said in the Lok Sabha that a large number of provisions of AP Reorganisation (APR) Act, 2014 have been implemented and the remaining provisions of the Act were at various stages of implementation. Repeating the old claims, he said some promises pertaining to infrastructure projects and educational institutions have a long gestation period for which a time period of 10 years has been prescribed in the Act. But what he did not mention was that less than 10 months were left for realise the promises made under the Act.

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Over the last nine Union Budgets presented in Parliament during Telangana’s existence, none of the promised projects outlined in the Act have seen completion. These include the long-awaited steel plant in Bayyaram, tribal and mining universities, national project status to an irrigation project and the increase in assembly seats from 119 to 153. Additionally, the Centre has not followed through with the separation of institutions as per Schedules 9 and 10 of the Act and has withheld pending funds amounting to Rs 900 crore under the Backward Region Grant monies (BRGF).

The inter-State river water disputes between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh have also been left unresolved by the Centre which claims to be only a facilitator between both the States to resolve the issues. As a result, Telangana continues to receive only 299 TMC out of the total 811 TMC, depriving of its rightful share of another 100 TMC per annum.

In contrast, the Telangana government fulfilled its commitments by providing land and funding for projects like the railway coach plant in Kazipet. However, the Centre decided against the new coach factory, raising doubts about its commitment to Telangana’s development. The Union government has also shelved the proposed Information Technology Investment Region (ITIR) in Hyderabad.